Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Villa Sunset
I have a villa in Menorca, an island in Spain, on the rocky edge of the sea. Last night the full moon slowly grazed across the starry sky, and then sank into the early morning silhouette of Mallorca, the next island to the west, straight out my bedroom window. Today, the sky is a clear, cornflower blue, but the wind brings the waves to a wild pitch, spray jumping high and wafting over to sprinkle me here on the patio. Slowly, as the heat builds, the sea is calming a little. I love it when the cooling shadows of seagulls glide across my skin.
Solo sojourning again, the first since leaving Paphos on Cyprus, on February 15. Another 6 weeks of intensive traveling behind me, full of new people, new places, new experiences. And now, as requested, the Universe has served up some solitude. I am slow, I want time to digest; and I am sensitive, I want stillness to rest into.
It is interesting, this glacial-speed unearthing of my own faint rhythms, small pulses of preference, tiny I-identifications. This trip has been about many things, but perhaps an overall theme could be named Awareness; perhaps even Self-Awareness, although my duality-denying mysticness has me always tripping over the words “I”, “me”, “my”, or “self“. Ever the consciousness junkie, I intended / hoped for / tried to invite, the muses of Presence and Wisdom to teach me, to dance with me on this trip. And I can’t tell whether they have, or not. Did I need to go on this trip, to have whatever I’ve acquired along the way? Probably not, but it’s been a fun way to spend the time…
So now I have the final chapter at hand, or nearly. I met Sally in my hostess’s sculpture class, and this is her extra house, a rental in the coming holiday season. I said I wanted a quiet place to think and write. She’ll trade me for a little money, some cleaning and some massage. I have no internet, no phone, no car or bike, and I’m about 6 miles from Ciutadella, the city. I’ll rent a bike, see if the buses are running, trust in Providence. I have the sea, the wind, the sun, the rocks, and a black-and-white lighthouse just to my left.
I don’t have a ticket across the Atlantic yet. There’s exactly four weeks left before my flight home from New York on the 27th, and there’s still a little squiggle of doubt about spending all of that here. There’s my work to do: scripts to write, classes to promote, workshop advertising ad nauseum to send out (and lots of that requires internet). But then there’s the rest of Spain, more couchsurfing, more adventures beckoning! I would LOVE to cross on a ship, for instance, instead of fly! But, sadly, the cruises are going the other way mostly, as it’s Spring…
So, we’ll see. This and here feel very good right now. I am snacking on famous Menorcan cheese, drinking cheap Menorcan wine, watching the waves, and reading silly romance novels that were left here. I do feel the Mediterranean has taught me more about sitting back and relaxing. Good thing, since I profess to be an expert on the subject!
Wild Sunset over Mallorca
